Korean J Gastroenterol.  2015 Dec;66(6):320-324. 10.4166/kjg.2015.66.6.320.

Inflammation and Hepatic Fibrosis, Then Hepatocellular Carcinoma

• Kwon OS
• Choi SH
• Kim JH

• KMID: 2373365
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4166/kjg.2015.66.6.320

Abstract

Inflammation is one of the most prominent characteristic features of chronic liver disease, liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Most of HCC cases develop in patients with cirrhosis and cirrhosis develops in patients with chronic liver inflammation. Therefore, there is no doubt that there exist some strong connection among inflammation, fibrosis, and cancer. In fact, chronic unresolved inflammation is associated with persistent hepatic injury and concurrent regeneration, leading to sequential development of fibrosis, cirrhosis, and eventually HCC. This review will discuss the common mechanism of inflammation and fibrosis in chronic liver diseases, and then demonstrate why HCC develops in inflammatory and fibrotic conditions.

Keyword

Inflammation; Fibrosis; Cirrhosis; Hepatocellular carcinoma

MeSH Terms

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular/*etiology
Gram-Negative Bacteria/growth & development
Hepatitis, Chronic/*complications/metabolism/microbiology
Humans
Hypoxia
*Inflammation
Lipopolysaccharides/metabolism
Liver/metabolism/pathology
Liver Cirrhosis/*complications
Liver Neoplasms/*etiology
Toll-Like Receptors/metabolism
Lipopolysaccharides
Toll-Like Receptors